How the AACR’s Special Conference Series Makes Headlines

The public craves solid health information, and knowledge about cancer research and treatment is vital to their well-being. The AACR Communications and Public Relations Department often supports AACR special conferences with media relations campaigns to communicate this information.

David Tuveson, MD, PhD, of The Lustgarten Foundation and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, said increased media activity at these conferences has kept the public aware and “reasonably well-informed” about cancer, so it is important to continue to support media relations activities.

Tuveson was the co-chair of a recent AACR conference on pancreatic cancer in New Orleans, which was co-sponsored by The Lustgarten Foundation and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

Inside the press briefing room at the AACR Annual Meeting 2014.

“You have to educate people beyond the podium that you might stand at in a classroom or conference,” said Tuveson. “It is important not to exaggerate findings beyond what can actually be supported by the results, but it’s not totally inappropriate to speculate about possibilities. We need to inspire and motivate the public about cancer research.”

Partnering with other cancer groups to help spread the word

In addition, the AACR at times partners with related cancer groups when developing special conferences to broaden its reach within the cancer community.

Bar-Sagi and Tuveson participated in one of the two press teleconferences hosted by the AACR at the pancreatic cancer meeting. The first teleconference featured news from Cancer Research that pancreatic cancer would surpass breast, colon, and prostate cancer as the number two cancer killer by 2030. It also includedthreeabstracts that were presented at the meeting. The second teleconference provided an overview of the highlights of the meeting.